Emma Kilbane
Jay Fogleman
EDC 102H
September 16, 2009
Goodbye Summer Fun, Hello Summer Reading As the end of junior year approached I had to make a monumental decision, was I going to put myself through another brutal year of Advanced Placement English? After having spent nine agonizing months of my life on Beowulf, Paradise Lost, and Dr. Faustus, I felt like I was perfectly entitled to a break. However, as I pondered the matter, I had to consider that maybe this course would give me an edge while applying to college, maybe this course would actually help prepare me for college…That was, after all, the main goal for so many of my high school teachers. “We’re really going to prepare you for college,” they would claim year after year. I remember when I first heard teachers say this I would grow nervous, I would anticipate a challenging course, only to find two weeks into class that it was just like any other average high school class. But the question was, did I really need another AP course on my transcript that badly?
During class scheduling, I found myself reluctantly registering for the second round of torture, Advanced Placement in English Language and Composition. As I checked off the box for Mrs. Hoyle’s AP English box, I slowly kissed my cushy senior year goodbye. After registering for the course, I was handed a sheet of paper, which listed the five reading assignments we had for the summer. The image of my friends and me lounging on the beach quickly morphed into us slouching around a table, buried in books.
Two months into summer I cracked out books that I had ordered back in May, deciding that it was time to face the reality of what was approaching, the start of senior year, as well as the start of AP Language and Composition. These novels were different from the ones that were engrained in my mind from junior year. Titles like Ragtime, and The Kite Runner did not sound familiar, and that was something that provoked me to explore.
As senior year kicked into gear, I soon realized that this English course was not going to be like any other average high school course. Not only did my teacher create an interesting curriculum, but she also encouraged creative thinking. We were never forced to complete the usual, tedious task of writing formal essays; instead we were assigned to write satires modeled after Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, or analyze the narrative techniques Lahiri uses in The Namesake.
Rarely did I find myself complaining of an assignment, and not once did I regret my decision to take that course. After so many years of bland, structured English classes, my passion for literature and language as a whole faded. My growth as an individual thinker and as a student was temporarily stunted prior to my senior AP Language and Composition course. I can thank Mrs. Hoyle for potentially steering me in the direction of teaching, and I can also thank her for re-instilling my love for the English language.
I know you said we did not need to name teachers, but I wanted to include her name...hope it's not an issue. Its fine. - fogleman Sep 18, 2009
Jay Fogleman
EDC 102H
September 16, 2009
Goodbye Summer Fun, Hello Summer Reading
As the end of junior year approached I had to make a monumental decision, was I going to put myself through another brutal year of Advanced Placement English? After having spent nine agonizing months of my life on Beowulf, Paradise Lost, and Dr. Faustus, I felt like I was perfectly entitled to a break. However, as I pondered the matter, I had to consider that maybe this course would give me an edge while applying to college, maybe this course would actually help prepare me for college…That was, after all, the main goal for so many of my high school teachers. “We’re really going to prepare you for college,” they would claim year after year. I remember when I first heard teachers say this I would grow nervous, I would anticipate a challenging course, only to find two weeks into class that it was just like any other average high school class. But the question was, did I really need another AP course on my transcript that badly?
During class scheduling, I found myself reluctantly registering for the second round of torture, Advanced Placement in English Language and Composition. As I checked off the box for Mrs. Hoyle’s AP English box, I slowly kissed my cushy senior year goodbye. After registering for the course, I was handed a sheet of paper, which listed the five reading assignments we had for the summer. The image of my friends and me lounging on the beach quickly morphed into us slouching around a table, buried in books.
Two months into summer I cracked out books that I had ordered back in May, deciding that it was time to face the reality of what was approaching, the start of senior year, as well as the start of AP Language and Composition. These novels were different from the ones that were engrained in my mind from junior year. Titles like Ragtime, and The Kite Runner did not sound familiar, and that was something that provoked me to explore.
As senior year kicked into gear, I soon realized that this English course was not going to be like any other average high school course. Not only did my teacher create an interesting curriculum, but she also encouraged creative thinking. We were never forced to complete the usual, tedious task of writing formal essays; instead we were assigned to write satires modeled after Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, or analyze the narrative techniques Lahiri uses in The Namesake.
Rarely did I find myself complaining of an assignment, and not once did I regret my decision to take that course. After so many years of bland, structured English classes, my passion for literature and language as a whole faded. My growth as an individual thinker and as a student was temporarily stunted prior to my senior AP Language and Composition course. I can thank Mrs. Hoyle for potentially steering me in the direction of teaching, and I can also thank her for re-instilling my love for the English language.